Nov 2017
National Bureau of Asian Research
Erica Downs
Senior Research Scholar in the Faculty of International and Public Affairs
Personal Details
Dr. Erica Downs is a non-resident Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy. In her full-time capacity, she is a senior research scientist in the China Studies division of the CNA Corporation, a non-profit research and analysis organization located in Arlington, VA. She previously worked as a senior analyst in the Asia practice at Eurasia Group, a fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, an energy analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency and a lecturer at the Foreign Affairs College in Beijing, China. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Princeton University and a B.S. from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She is an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy at the University of Dundee.
Research And Publications
Sep 2017
Center on Global Energy Policy, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
In The Media
Geopolitical Stability
“If we do see sanctions lifted, then we see Venezuela becoming a less important oil supplier to China, especially after those loans are repaid,” said Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
Jan 05 2026
New York Times
Climate & Sustainable Development
According to Erica Downs and Richard Nephew, Senior Research Scholars at Columbia's Center on Global Energy Policy: "If Washington does not stem the pipeline of energy-fueled cash from China to Russia, its overall commitment to sanctions and other kinds of restrictive policies will come into question."
Nov 24 2025
Foreign Affairs
Erica Downs, Yushan Lou and co-author wrote: “The SEC’s mandate helps the U.S. keep pace. Overturning it would set us back.”
Mar 26 2024
Fortune
“A hallmark of [China’s] approach to energy supply security has been not to become too dependent on any one supplier,” says Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
Mar 23 2023
Foreign Policy